Interactionist Approach to Schizophrenia

Question 1

What is it?

Answer 1

• The interactionist approach acknowledges that there are biological, psychological and societal factors in the development of schizophrenia.
• Several gene mutations have been linked to Schizophrenia and it is now considered as a polygenic disorder.

-The interactionist approach acknowledges these genetic contributions, but also considers other factors that
may trigger the onset of Schizophrenia, labelled generally as “stress”.

-For example, using cannabis increases the risk of Schizophrenia by up to seven times.
-This may act as a stress trigger for some people, particularly if they already have a genetic vulnerability to Schizophrenia.

-The interactionist model is compatible with both biological and psychological treatments of Schizophrenia.

• In particular the model is associated with combining antipsychotic medication and psychological therapies, most commonly CBT. In both the UK and USA, it is unusual to treat schizophrenia using psychological therapies alone.

-CBT, family therapy and the use of token economies with sufferers of schizophrenia are usually carried out alongside patients taking antipsychotics.

Question 2

Adoption A03 - Tienari

Answer 2

• There is evidence to support the dual role of vulnerability and stress in the development of schizophrenia.

-Tienari et al. (2004) investigated the combination of genetic vulnerability and parenting style.
- Children adopted from 19,000 Finnish mothers with schizophrenia were followed up in their adoptive homes. A child-rearing style characterised by high levels of criticism and conflict and low levels of empathy predicted the development of schizophrenia for children with high genetic risk.

• This suggests that both genetic vulnerability and family-related stress are important in the development of schizophrenia:
• genetically vulnerable children are more sensitive to parenting behaviour.
  This is very strong direct support for the importance of adopting an interactionist approach to schizophrenia.

Question 3

A03 - Therapy

Answer 3

• Studies show an advantage of combining treatments for schizophrenia.
  -Tarrier et al. (2004) randomly allocated 315 patients to one of three groups:
  medication only (control group),
  medication with CBT,
  medication with supportive counselling.

Patients in the two combination groups showed lower symptom levels than those in the control group,
- although there was no difference in rates of hospital readmission.
-This suggests that adopting an interactionist approach can lead to superior treatment outcomes, therefore
highlighting the advantages of such an interactionist approach.

Question 4

A03 - Cities and Suburbs

Answer 4

• Recent research has identified links between the onset of Schizophrenia and living conditions.

0For example, Vasos (2012) found the risk of Schizophrenia was 2x times greater in cities than in the countryside, likely due to stress levels.

-Similarly, Pederson and Mortensen (2001) found that Scandinavian villages had very low levels of psychosis, but the risk significantly increased after living in a city for 15 years.

-These studies support the concept that environmental factors can trigger those genetically vulnerable to developing
Schizophrenia.

• Therefore, the onset of Schizophrenia may be due to complex, factors that vary between individuals. As a result, perhaps a more individualist approach to treating Schizophrenia is appropriateg